The role of Port Jervis police officers in the recent arrest of Frank McBride, 27, of Scranton, PA, by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was praised by Councilman Carl Hendrick, who presented the police report at the August 11 meeting.

McBride was arrested in connection with bomb threats and attempted bank robberies at Sussex Bank and TD Bank North in Port Jervis after he’d already been under investigation for a spree of robberies in Scranton, Mayfield and Throop in Pennsylvania.

McBride was taken into custody by the FBI and police officers from the Scranton Police Department.

“These crimes were committed across several local jurisdictions, requiring close coordination among all the agencies involved,” said Sean Quinn, supervisory special agent of the FBI’s Scranton office. “This has been a great example of the FBI and our many law enforcement partners working together to quickly identify and arrest a dangerous subject.”

Hendricks added, “Good job by Port Jervis police department.” He said the arrests could not have been made without their help.

Among other business, as part of the ongoing Community Service Saturdays, Mayor Kelly Decker said, “August 23rd, we’re going to be down in 169 Front St. It’s one of the first houses we’re going to look at as part of the sale program for the city. The house needs a lot of cleaning-up first. DPW is going to back up a truck to the house, and we’re going to clean it out.”

Instead of auctioning properties in tax sales that can result in vacant houses, Decker is proposing to hold low-cost mortgages for people who could then move in and start living in the properties. Community Service Saturdays have already had a series of successful days by cleaning up the old canal

towpath, Decker said.

In an effort to make the city more presentable, the town will increase the fees for vacant or abandoned or boarded-up buildings or lots whose owners don’t keep them up according to town rules. This is done in order to cover the administration costs of monitoring and maintaining the properties. The fees will go up steeply. The initial fee will increase from $250 to $1,200, and then the increases are applied according to the sections the properties are located in, starting from section 10b, which goes up to $2,200, to section 10i, which goes up to $10,000. In addition, interest may be added to unpaid fees at the maximum rate permitted by law, if not paid within 30 days, Decker added.